Korea Times Column Casts Trump as 'Titanic Heading Toward Iceberg'
Key Takeaways
- •The Korea Times, an English-language daily founded in 1950 and headquartered in Seoul, published the opinion column on August 23, 2026, under the headline "Trump Titanic heading toward iceberg."
- •The headline alludes to the RMS Titanic, which sank in April 1912 during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, killing more than 1,500 people, and has become a common metaphor for institutional overconfidence and disregarded warnings.
- •Donald Trump, the column's subject, is the 47th U.S. president and a Republican who began his second term in January 2025 after winning the 2024 election, having previously served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.
- •South Korean media's substantial coverage of U.S. politics reflects the bilateral relationship formalized by the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty, the continued stationing of U.S. forces in South Korea since the Korean War, and the U.S. role as one of South Korea's largest trading partners.
- •The full text of the column is available on The Korea Times' website.
The Korea Times, South Korea's oldest English-language daily newspaper, founded in 1950 and headquartered in Seoul, published an opinion column on August 23, 2026, under the headline "Trump Titanic heading toward iceberg".
The piece appears in the newspaper's opinion section. Its title invokes the RMS Titanic, the British ocean liner that struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in April 1912 during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. The sinking, which cost more than 1,500 lives, has since become one of the most widely used metaphors in political commentary for institutional overconfidence and ignored warnings, in part because the vessel had been described in contemporary publicity as practically unsinkable.
Donald Trump, the subject of the column's headline, is the 47th president of the United States. A Republican, he returned to office in January 2025 after winning the 2024 presidential election, succeeding Democrat Joe Biden, the 46th president, having previously served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.
South Korean news organizations, including The Korea Times, devote substantial coverage to U.S. politics, reflecting the two countries' long-standing security and economic relationship: their alliance was formalized by the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty following the 1950–53 Korean War, U.S. forces have been stationed in South Korea since that conflict, and the United States is one of South Korea's largest trading partners.
The full text of the column is available on The Korea Times' website at the link above.
